Chapter 674: Tiger Teeth

Three days later, as night fell, the officers and soldiers on the walls of Ying County observed what seemed to be a disturbance in the rear of the Wei army.

The Wei army was vast in number, their camp stretching over ten li in circumference. North of the encampment, there appeared to be firelight, and soldiers were constantly being redeployed from the south of the camp toward the north…

Yao Qi was greatly invigorated by the news: "Could it be that Jia Fu has come to raid the Wei camp as agreed?"

But after he hurriedly reported to Feng Yi, this ever-cautious Grand General Who Conquers the West hesitated once more: "We have yet to receive a reply from Jia Fu. Is this truly an attack, or is it a trick of Cen Peng's to lure us out to battle? It is hard to tell."

Yao Qi, however, had no patience: "Grand General, Jia Fu and we are separated by the Wei army. He must make a detour through Yiling and then take the waterways to establish contact. Going there and back takes time and effort. Perhaps the messenger has simply not yet returned, while Jia Fu has already struck ahead of schedule! But he has only a little over three thousand men under his command. Against Cen Peng's great army, it would be no different from ants biting a giant elephant. The Wei army's defenses are very tight; even if there is a moment of chaos, once they realize Jia Fu's numbers, they will naturally respond with composure. The ancients said: 'Achievements are hard to gain and easy to lose; opportunities are hard to seize and easy to miss.' An opportunity, once gone, never returns!"

After Yao Qi's repeated and earnest pleas, Feng Yi ultimately agreed to his request to fight. Yao Qi was overjoyed and immediately returned to Ying County to marshal the troops. After days of relentless bombardment by the Wei army's three giant catapults, Ying County was a scene of devastation. The residents had all withdrawn to Jiangling, leaving only eight thousand soldiers. Yao Qi selected three thousand of the most elite in one go. After they assembled inside Ying County's west gate, he climbed onto a rooftop and rallied the men:

"These past days, we have been like rats in the alleys, constantly fearing boulders flying at our heads, finding no sweetness in food, no sleep at night. Even a rat, when cornered, will bite a dog — how much more so for men? The Wei army relies only on their flying stones; though their numbers are many, once it comes to close combat, they are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs! Today, Yao Qi will go forth shoulder to shoulder with you all out of the city and destroy the Wei invaders' siege engines in one stroke, so that our officers and men can have a few days of peace!"

He had a man raise a crimson banner of the Fiery Han: "When we close with the enemy in battle, advance in the direction pointed to by my fiery banner and torch! Do your utmost!"

To ensure the secrecy of the raid, no one answered. The faces of the three thousand soldiers were shrouded in the night, impossible to read clearly — whether fear or excitement held the upper hand, none could say.

Feng Yi had already come to take over the defense of Ying County. Seeing this, he was stirred by their keen resolve and saluted Yao Qi with clasped hands: "I shall beat the drums for the General of the Tiger Teeth. If the situation turns against you, return swiftly — still enter the city by the west gate, and I will personally cover your withdrawal."

The Wei army's giant catapults were one li north of the gate, but considering the difficulty of a frontal assault, Yao Qi exited through the west city gate. The three thousand men extinguished their torches, silenced their banners and drums, and filed out of the city in single file. After fording the shallow moat, they barely managed to re-form their ranks by the firelight atop the walls, then began to circle around toward the north.

It seemed the Wei army truly had redeployed most of its forces to the north, for the camp's southern defenses were greatly diminished. But even so, when Yao Qi led his men near the north of the city and could make out the silhouettes of the three giant catapults, the Wei sentries on the watchtowers still spotted them. A sharp horn blast sounded, and the Wei camp stirred with agitation.

"Charge with me!"

Seeing their movement had been exposed, Yao Qi gave the order to charge. The giant catapults were barely a single li away. And the drumbeats from the walls of Ying County also sounded in time. Courage gradually swelled in the men, and they followed the fiery banner beside Yao Qi, braving the sparse arrows, pressing forward heedless of their own safety.

Yet just as they were about to charge up to the catapults, the Wei army's previously silent encampments all around suddenly erupted with a burst of drumming. Tens of thousands of Wei soldiers pushed over the flimsy camp walls and wooden palisades, appearing before the men. Their ranks were in perfect order, their dagger-axes and spears a forest, their heavy crossbows firing fiercely — where was the slightest sign of the chaos of a camp under attack!

"Disaster — it was a trap after all."

Yao Qi cried out in alarm at the danger and was about to lead his troops in retreat, when he saw ambushing soldiers swarming up from their southwest as well.

They were caught in a pincer attack from front and rear, but strangely, the Wei army's encirclement was not tight, giving Yao Qi the illusion that "with just a little effort, they could break through and return to the city."

But it was only when Yao Qi and his men were about to retreat to the edge of the moat that they realized the Wei army had deliberately held back its assault, following close behind like jackals stalking wounded prey.

If Ying County opened its gates, the Wei army would surely seize the chance to charge in!

Yao Qi understood at once. He turned his head to look back at the walls of Ying County. Feng Yi was there directing the reception. General Feng, of course, was also well aware of the peril. In the firelight, his brows were tightly knit, and he long delayed giving the order to open the gates.

The Han army's assault force, attacked by enemies five or eight times their number, had already lost its morale. Those who knelt and surrendered, or threw themselves into the moat, were beyond counting. Only a little over a thousand men still clustered tightly around Yao Qi.

Looking at their simple, honest faces, Yao Qi made the hardest choice of his life. He saluted toward the city wall with clasped hands and cried out in a voice they probably could not even hear atop the wall: "Grand General, please close the city gates at once!"

Then, with final resolve, Yao Qi wheeled his horse around, brandished his halberd and pressed forward, charging alongside the fiery banner beside him toward the endlessly surging Wei troops!

…

By daybreak, Cen Peng, the hunter who had laid this trap, finally saw the corpse of his quarry.

The colonel who had been at the front reported the previous night's bitter fighting to him: "Grand General, this man had clearly already retreated to the moat. Just when it seemed the General's stratagem was about to succeed, he suddenly turned his troops around, spurred his horse and charged. The thousand-odd Wu soldiers around him also fought desperately to the death."

But he was still swallowed up by the tide of Wei soldiers. That fiery banner fell, the great halberd snapped, and Yao Qi ultimately died in battle. Cen Peng looked at the man's remains. His armor was shattered, his body covered in wounds, and on his forehead, his helmet was nowhere to be found, only a headscarf wrapped there. Unwrapping it revealed a massive gash beneath — a slash from a ring-pommel saber, deep into the skull, the blood already drained dry…

"This wretch was struck on the forehead, yet instead of falling, he tightened his headscarf and returned to the fight… His pair of great halberds were exceedingly sharp, killing over fifty of our soldiers in total!" Recalling Yao Qi's reckless, death-defying figure, the colonel still felt a lingering fear.

Cen Peng said with deep emotion: "This man had the valor of Fan Kuai. Under Liu Xiu's command, there are indeed many fierce generals."

On the question of how to dispose of the enemy's remains, some proposed beheading the corpse and displaying the head, others suggested mutilating it — using this method to enrage those in the city and lure the enemy out again. But Cen Peng shook his head; he knew Feng Yi would never fall for it a second time.

"Collect Yao Qi's remains properly, send a man to deliver them to the foot of the city wall, and return them to Feng Yi."

He maintained sufficient respect for this Han General of the Tiger Teeth. But just as the deputy generals and colonels were secretly grumbling about Grand General Cen's soft-heartedness, Cen Peng issued a shocking order!

Cen Peng turned his head to look at the three giant catapults that Yao Qi had given his life to destroy, but ultimately failed to. His tone was chilling.

"As for the rest of the Wu soldiers' corpses — return them as well, one by one."

…

The cause of restoring the Han had been underway for over ten years. Feng Yi had lost many comrades and colleagues, but he had never grieved as he did this day.

Yao Qi was not only a fellow townsman from Yingchuan, but also someone Feng Yi had personally recommended to Liu Xiu. Since following the dragon, his achievements had been outstanding. Whether in the early days when their small band roamed Xuzhou seeking a foothold, hewing a path through thorns for Liu Xiu and breaking out of perilous situations several times, or later, after the regime was established, fighting bitterly in Huainan and battling the Red Eyebrows to the death — Yao Qi had repeatedly performed great deeds, was enfeoffed as a marquis and appointed general, and then came to Jingzhou to serve as Feng Yi's deputy, recruiting soldiers and opening up farmland. Whenever Feng Yi gave an assignment, Yao Qi invariably carried it out splendidly.

But now, he had died right before Feng Yi's eyes. When Yao Qi had turned his horse and charged, Feng Yi was on the city wall. He saw Yao Qi open his mouth and shout, but did not know what he said. It was only when his body was returned that Feng Yi learned from the Han soldiers who came back with him that his cry had been…

"Close the city gates at once…"

Feng Yi could not help but wet his clothes with tears. He personally wiped clean Yao Qi's body, but the General of the Tiger Teeth's unclosed eyes could not be shut, no matter what.

Feng Yi said softly to this old friend: "Back in Yingchuan, Cikuang's supreme filial piety was known far and wide. Your elderly mother is still alive. If I am fortunate enough to survive, I shall surely serve her as my own mother."

Yet Yao Qi's eyes still stared wide. His unfulfilled concern, perhaps, was not a private matter, but those three giant catapults he had failed to destroy…

What made one gnash one's teeth even more was that after this battle, the Wei army began building more giant catapults and moved their positions forward to three hundred paces, just outside the range of the small trebuchets on the city wall.

And when they started operating again, what was hurled into the city was no longer just stones, but also the corpses of Han soldiers who had died in battle!

It was the height of summer, and the bodies were already putrid. When flung into the city by the giant catapults, the violent impact tore them apart. Those that landed close left smear after smear of bloody pulp on the city walls; those that flew farther rained down a shower of rotting flesh and bone within the city…

Whether the soldiers stubbornly defending Ying County or the new recruits sent as reinforcements from Jiangling, all sank into anxiety and dread. Their fear reached its limit. Occasionally, some angrily petitioned Feng Yi to sally forth again, but the Grand General Who Conquers the West only remained silent.

Jia Fu's letter had only arrived after a roundabout journey over these past few days. It turned out he had attempted a surprise attack on the Wei army, but Cen Peng had also defended the north side of the main camp very tightly, and he had found no opportunity. That day had indeed been Cen Peng deliberately exposing a weak point to lure the Han army out.

Cen Peng was the gentlemanly general who had courteously returned Yao Qi's body, and also the despicable scoundrel who dishonored the dead. In his private heart, he could be filled with respect for a foe who died heroically, but in his public duty, he would stop at nothing to achieve victory!

Feng Yi would not make the same mistake twice.

But neither could he salvage Ying County's plummeting morale. The Wei army's other siege engines began to advance. Several times, their dare-to-die soldiers were the first to scale the walls. Ying County could hold out no longer. Feng Yi could only resist on one front while arranging to abandon the city.

It was as if Cen Peng had predicted Feng Yi's withdrawal. On the very day the north gate was breached, three more counterweight trebuchet giant catapults were completed west of Ying County. Their bombardment targets were aimed at the covered passageway and the Yangshui Bridge between Ying County and Jiangling, which were protected within the city walls!

Great stones came hurtling through the air. Though most landed in empty ground or in the Yangshui River, the occasional one or two that struck the bridge were enough to shatter the wooden span, sending carts and horses plunging into the water. The Han army suffered yet another heavy blow.

Before the Wei army could catch up in pursuit, Feng Yi still barely managed to complete the evacuation plan. Ying County was abandoned, and the Han troops all withdrew into Jiangling City. Feng Yi further ordered the breaching of the Yangtze River dikes, letting the surging river water pour into the Yangshui River, which at least doubled the river's width to temporarily halt the Wei army's assault on the city.

But new giant catapults were already being built on the north bank of the Yangshui. The one-armed giants were taking shape, bit by bit.

Cen Peng's tactic of advancing one pawn's step at a time was enough to slowly grind Jiangling to death. Though there was no shortage of food or water, as the defeated troops from Ying County retreated in and rumors spread, the hearts of the people in Jiangling began to waver. The local powers who had originally adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward the Han army — once stones began falling on their heads — would probably vie with one another to lean toward surrender.

Once their anger faded, the Han army's deputy generals and colonels had also lost their nerve. Even Yao Qi had failed — what could the rest of them possibly do?

"The day the new giant catapults are finished will be the day Jiangling collapses." In all his years of fighting, Feng Yi had never felt such despair. He, who had originally been able to fight Cen Peng to a standstill, had been completely put at a disadvantage by the appearance of these giant catapults.

Just as Feng Yi was being pressed step by step by Cen Peng, forced to choose between a fight to the death and a withdrawal by water, a small boat from Jiangxia arrived, lifting a tremendous weight from his shoulders!

After reading that letter, Feng Yi gazed longingly to the east, his eyes brimming with hot tears.

Their persistence was not in vain, nor was Yao Qi's sacrifice wasted.

"His Majesty is personally leading the great southeastern army and will reach Jianghan within days!"